


Shedding Feathers

by Yuna_Ueda



Category: Gatchaman Crowds
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Gen, Other, Sorry Not Sorry, hopefully, not gonna say she's gonna die but, post-death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-23
Updated: 2015-09-23
Packaged: 2018-04-23 02:59:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4860461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuna_Ueda/pseuds/Yuna_Ueda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hajime didn't survive the team's plan to 'Kill Gelsadra'. Tsubasa is left picking up the pieces as best she can one month later.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shedding Feathers

**Author's Note:**

> This is sort of a continuation of my other fic "Tattered Swan". If you're curious, go read that first. I'm writing this before episode 12 has even aired so this is basically just an AU.
> 
> Again, just an idea I had that I wanted to get out there, more chapters to come so believe me, this isn't the end.

“The Infinite Blade, Storm!”

There it was, Sugane’s attack, coming straight at her. It phased through Tsubasa, like nothing, and swirled towards her.

Those moments, seemed to last forever. She didn’t think about much, only one thing rose to her mind as the finale edged closer and closer to her.

_“I… Didn’t tell Mom about this… did I?”_

As that thought left her mind, an agonizing pain shot through her as Sugane’s attack struck her right in the centre of her being. As her form fell apart on the outside and she fell out of consciousness on the inside she was able to finish her thought…

_“I don’t think I told her… I’m sorry Tsubasa-chan but… can you explain it to her for me…?”_

The last light of the sun, the last light of Hajime drifted away to nothing as she made the silent request of her friend, the one who had come so far in such a short time. Hajime knew that Tsubasa was reliable. She knew that, she could entrust anything to her, perhaps, even the world itself.

_“I… don’t think I’ll be able to… continue being a Gatchaman. You’re a better Gatchaman than I am anyway, Tsubasa-chan~”_

_~_

One month. It had taken Tsubasa one month, almost exactly, to finally pluck up the courage to march herself over to the place that Hajime once called home. Only her mother remained now, beyond the wooden door the ashen haired school girl found herself staring so deeply into. It was almost as if she had forgotten why she was there to begin with; if only that were the case.

Besides, it would have been disrespectful, to Hajime’s mother, to Hajime herself even, if she had so carelessly forgotten her purpose. No, she had a job to do, an important one at that.

It had been a little over one month since that day, when the Gatchaman had decided to ‘kill Gelsadra’. Things were still rather rocky in terms of the general atmosphere, but Tachikawa had finally started to return to a state that could be considered… normal? The city itself was still undecided on whether they should perhaps reinstate the ‘Crowds’ and debate raged on about whether what the Gatchaman had done was right or not.

It’s what Hajime would have wanted though. She understood, better than anyone that this conflict and debate was healthy. It could in fact, lead to even better and more promising changes in the future. Tsubasa smiled weakly, as it pained her to think about Hajime, even in a positive light.

After all, it had also been almost exactly one month since Hajime Ichinose had paid the ultimate price.   
  
She was gone.

The circumstances surrounding her death were even harder to think about, since effectively, they were the ones who were to blame. Sugane himself had taken to blaming himself extra hard for her passing as he was the one who landed the final, lethal blow. Tsubasa had just wished she had done more to stop them from taking it as far as they had. But Hajime kept getting up, even after the hand on her armoured form had been sliced off. If she had maybe just…

No, it was no use thinking about what could have happened. She had to deal with the here, the now and… meet with Hajime’s mother. She felt like Hajime would have wanted her to do so. She had to maybe, explain to her what had happened. It wouldn’t be easy, but if she watched the news or was connected digitally at all, she would likely have some of the story already. That would, hopefully, make it easier.

_“Who am I kidding... I-I’ll just do it!”_

Even as the thought played in her mind, she remained frozen on the spot. She kept telling herself to get on with it, but no movement came. Her loafers just twitched and shuffled back and forward as tears began to bubble within her amber eyes.

_“I-I can’t… I just can’t!”_

Her feet finally made a move, but they took her away from the door of Hajime’s old home and back toward the busy centre of Tachikawa.

_“I’m sorry, I just can’t!”_

_~_

Tsubasa took the long way home. She needed some air, and she didn’t want to worry the rest of the squad when she returned to HQ. She didn’t mind their prodding, but she just couldn’t deal with it tonight. Even a minute of pestering would likely make her even worse than she already was. Plus, they all expected her to have spoken to Hajime’s mother and she had nothing to report.

Pai-Pai wouldn’t like that.

Things would also be awkward at her apartment again. Gel was there after all and ever since Hajime died, things had been strange between them. The scarlet alien had always looked as if they wanted to help or comfort her in some way, but something had held them back from doing so. It made Tsubasa feel uneasy to be in the same room as Gel sometimes.

So she instead continuously extended her walk until she was ready to go back; preferably she would be as late as she could possibly manage. Her amber eyes scanned out over the large pond before her, which reflected the light of the moon above, as well as the lights that lined the path.

Hajime had told her about this place before. This was where she first met that alien, Berg Katze, who eventually came to dwell inside of her soul. The topic of that had come up a number of times since Hajime’s passing, although she felt her stomach churn whenever it was brought up. Something about discussing it, even one month after the bubbly life of the team had passed, made her feel odd.

Of course, it was worrying to think that Berg Katze might now be loose, but things had been relatively quiet for one month, so what were the chances of him still being out there? Did they really have a way to make sure?

For now, they had nothing to go on at all. So thankfully for her, the topic was almost always discarded as quickly as it had arisen.

Tsubasa cringed and gripped the top of her emerald plaid skirt. Just being in this place was upsetting her, filling her thoughts with a constant squawking that was too hard to silence. She was just about done with being outside now; fresh air had lost its novelty.

Slowly, she turned to leave, sighing once before shuffling away. In a nanosecond however, she felt her legs buckle under an excruciating pain. She screeched into the night sky, almost as loudly as the shrieking inside of her head was getting.

Her fingers slipped through her silver locks and gripped at her scalp as she knelt down, whimpering and chirping sadly, tears streaming down her creamy cheeks. Louder, louder it grew! It was like a whole flock of ravens! Of crows! Storks, swans, robins!

“Stop… make it stop!”

As if it were forcing her to remain at the lake, if she even thought about leaving, it only caused the squawking to peck at her harder and harder. She couldn’t take it, not any longer! It had to stop before it drove her completely crazy!

“Please stop!”

She stood back up, yelling to the sky once more, fiercely and angrily. The noise dispersed, and her thoughts cleared somewhat. She still felt unsettled being there, but she could at least think and move without it hurting her now.

Still, she couldn’t help but cry all the way home, the trauma making a nest inside of her soul.


End file.
